WT/MIN(22)/ST/38  
12 June 2022 
(22-4474) Page: 1/2 
Ministerial Conference  
Twelfth Session  
Geneva, 12 -15 June 2022  Original: English  
 
 
STATEMENT BY H.E. DR. MAJID ABDULLAH ALKAS SABI 
MINISTER OF COMMERCE  
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA 
On behalf of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, I would like to thank His Excellency Mr. Timur 
Suleimenov  for his leadership chairing this Ministerial Conference and extend our deep appreciation 
to the Governments of Kazakhstan and Switzerland for the excellent arrangements and hospitality.  
Special thanks goes to Her Excellence Director -General Dr. Ngozi Okon jo-Iweala  and the 
WTO Secretariat for their hard work in preparation for this Ministerial Conference.  
This meeting is taking place in a challenging international environment , with significant 
headwinds arising from COVID -19 pandemic, disruptions in global supply chains and inflationary 
pressures coupled with current geopolitical challenges.  
Today more than ever, this meeting offers a great opportunity to send a clear message  
that the Multilateral Trading System can deliver tangible outcomes to address such  challenges.  
To address this reality we need to focus on the Response, Reform, Resilience and Recovery . 
As far as COVID -19 pandemic , our response  need to include equitable and affordable production 
and access to vaccines, essential goods and services neede d in the continuation to fight against the 
pandemic as well as minimizing export restrictions. The issue of intellectual property protections for 
COVID -19 vaccines need to be also resolved.    
Furthermore, the global community needs to act collectively and proactively to address 
food insecurity , including international aid needs to vulnerable countries for food shortage, 
strengthen national food systems, and ensure effective global food supply chains, especially for 
developing and Least Developing Countries.  
Today, there is a critical need to reform the WTO  to enable it to serve its mission more 
effectively and address the current and future challenges successfully.  
The Kingdom considers the "Riyadh Initiative on the Future of WTO"  that was launched by 
the Sa udi G20 Presidency, provides an additional opportunity to discuss and reaffirm the objectives 
and foundational principles of the multilateral trading system as well as to demonstrate G20 ongoing 
political support for the necessary reform of the WTO.  
We st and committed to working with WTO members  on these reforms to ensure a more open, 
equitable, inclusive, sustainable, and rule -based global trading system that supports the Recovery 
and Resilience  of the global economy in the face of future shocks.  
In this context, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia commends Members of the services domestic 
regulations joint initiative  for concluding negotiations and encourages the other plurilateral 
initiatives to maintain their positive momentum.  WT/MIN (22)/ST/ 38 
 
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  In particular, the Kingdom welcomes the progress made on joint initiatives  related to E -
commerce; Investment Facilitation for Development; Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises; Trade 
and Environmental Sustainability; and Environmentally Sustainable Plastic Trade.  
Moreover, we would like to see tangible and balanced outcomes in the multilateral 
negotiations around Fisheries Subsidies and agriculture .  
The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia encourages WTO Members to support, facilitate and expedite the 
accession process for dev eloping countries and LDCs, of which substantial number are 
Arab countries . 
To conclude, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands ready to work with WTO Members 
towards a successful 12th Ministerial Conference.  
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